DESCRIPTION OF SECTIONS. 229 



the limestone bands might be the remains of nummulites. Only in 



one instance, to be further described, in the Persian province of 



Sarhad did I come across such an extreme type of metamorphism 



(page 89). It is only in the limestone ridge bordering the Kharan 



plain at Shir Ajab Ziarat (/ in section) that any distinct sections 



of nummulites can be recognized. This limestone rests upon shales 



which are not quite so much altered as the slates just described. 



Beyond this point the rocks are hidden under alluvial deposits. 



Other low ranges occur between the alluvial plain and Naoro2 Khan 



Kelat. All that can be made out from a distance is that they have 



a south-east dip, but I did not visit them. 



Continuing further south-west along the strike of the mountains 



the next pass is the " Parhod Pass, " which I 

 The Parhod Pass. ... . . _ . 111,1 ,« , 



did not visit. It is probable that the central 



ridges still consist of tertiary rocks, but it would seem that the 

 range is bordered on either side by an outcrop of the bedded tuff 

 of the flysch. Along its north-western border the volcanic strata 

 described in the previous sections still continue uninterrupted, while 

 on the opposite side the range called " Char Kohan," a tall black 

 ridge, apparently consists of similar rocks so far as could be judged 

 by its appearance from a distance of about three miles. The out- 

 crop is perhaps connected with the band of volcanic strata that 

 forms the range called " Charian " and ''Sehchang" further west- ' 

 south-west, but of this I could not make certain- as I did not visit 

 the country south of u Ras Koh." 



Still continuing in the same direction we find that the strike of 

 the ranges becomes unsteady. Portions with a 



The Ras Koh intrusion. 



south-west or west-south-west strike are ir- 

 regularly dovetailed into others that lie east-west. It is here that the 

 most conspicuous feature of the range commences, the great plutonic 

 mass, whose highest summit, the " Ras Koh," rises to a height of 9,899 

 feet. This great igneous outcrop has the shape of an irregular 

 elongated oval whose length is thirty-eight miles, while the maximum 

 width averages five miles. The general trend of the outcrop is 

 E2 (51 ) 



